May 15, 2006	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1427

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MUMBAI, May 14: South Africa's Hendrik Buhrmann ended an 11-year wait to claim his maiden Asian Tour title by two shots at India's Aamby Valley event on Sunday.

The 42-year-old carded a one-under 71 for a 11-under 277 after he was in a three-way tie for the lead going into the final day at the picturesque valley course near Mumbai.

Buhrmann and fellow overnight leader Simon Hurd appeared headed for a playoff until the Briton dropped two strokes on the penultimate hole, carding 73 to come second at nine-under 279.

Hurd found the rough off the tee on the 17th effectively to end his contest with Buhrmann, who never looked back after he sank an eagle on the 12th and coolly parred the last four holes.

Australian Terry Pilkadaris (70) was one shot behind Hurd, moving up three places to finish third while an even par round gave compatriot Marcus Both fourth place at five-under overall.

Leading final round scores:

277 – Hendrik Buhrmann (South Africa) 66, 75, 65, 71.

279 – Simon Hurd (Britain) 67, 70, 69, 73.

280 – Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 72, 71, 67, 70.

283 – Marcus Both (Australia) 70, 71, 70, 72.

284 – Garth Mulroy (South Africa) 74, 68, 70, 72; Simon Griffiths (Britain) 68, 72, 67, 77; Kane Webber (Australia) 69, 74, 66, 75; Ashok Kumar (India) 67, 66, 73, 78.

EDFORS TRIUMPHS

SUTTON COLDFIELD (England): Swede Johan Edfors came from four strokes behind to claim the British Masters title on Sunday, his second European Tour win in six events.

His closing two-under-par 70 for an 11-under-par 277 total earned him a one-shot win from fellow-Swede Jarmo Sandelin and Britons Gary Emerson and Stephen Gallacher.

Leading final round scores:

277 – Johan Edfors (Sweden) 68, 69, 70, 70.

278 – Gary Emerson (Britain) 68, 70, 73, 67; Stephen Gallacher (Britain) 71, 66, 70, 71; Jarmo Sandelin (Sweden) 67, 71, 70, 70.

279 – Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 67, 70, 68, 74; Paul Casey (Britain) 67, 66, 70, 76.

280 - Paul Broadhurst (Britain) 70, 72, 70, 68.

281 – Jonathan Lomas (Britain) 70, 73, 68, 70; Graeme McDowell (Britain) 70, 68, 73, 70; Tom Whitehouse (Britain) 70, 71, 69, 71.

SCOTT SLIPS BACK

IRVING (Texas): Australia's Adam Scott lost momentum after a fast start to slip back into a tie for the lead at the Byron Nelson Championship on Saturday.

The 25-year-old from Adelaide bogeyed three of the last seven holes on the TPC at Las Colinas for a one-under-par 69, ending the third round at 11-under 199.

Level with Scott was South African Trevor Immelman, who charged into contention with a flawless 64 in bright sunshine to match Jeff Sluman for the best score of the day.

Leading third round scores:

199 -- Adam Scott (Australia) 65, 65, 69; Trevor Immelman (South Africa) 68, 67, 64.

200 -- Brett Wetterich (US) 66, 64, 70.

202 – Charley Hoffman (US) 70, 67, 65; Chad Campbell (US) 72, 65, 65; Joe Ogilvie (US) 71, 62, 69; Omar Uresti (US) 67, 66, 69.

204 – Jeff Sluman (US) 70, 70, 64; Ted Purdy (US) 70 ,69, 65; Shane Bertsch (US) 69, 70, 65; Scott McCarron (US) 69, 69, 66; Dudley Hart (US) 68, 68, 68; Luke Donald (Britain) 69, 66, 69.

205 – Wes Short Jr (US) 68, 71, 66; Bob Estes (US) 66, 69, 70; Steve Lowery (US) 65, 69, 71; Bo Van Pelt (US) 67, 68, 70.—Agencies